


Average Heart

by Nath_happiness



Series: Better with you [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Beta Stiles Stilinski, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Omega Derek Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-06 18:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8763685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nath_happiness/pseuds/Nath_happiness
Summary: The life of a beta is ordinary.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have a beta for this, so any mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy it :)

The life of a beta is ordinary.

There’s nothing particularly attractive, or enticing, or mysterious about being one of them. Stiles has always been the sidekick, the best friend of who is supposed to become an amazing alpha, the one nobody paid much attention to, the annoying beta boy who questioned way too much, spoke way too fast, behaved in the most obnoxious way possible.

He accepted that life because that was the hand he was given since being born: never chosen as official leader in group projects at school, never chosen as the first to speak up in class unless he was the only one who knew the answers, not even mentioning the fact that betas were always watching from the sidelines this weird dance between alphas and omegas, the special ones.

So yeah, Stiles had grown kind of bitter over time. Sue him.

It’s not like people paid attention to him enough to notice, anyway. He laughed, made self-depreciating jokes, got good grades because he was freaking smart, and took care of his dad. Before getting into high school, Stiles had his whole life figured out already: he would become a deputy just like his dad or work with criminal justice, fall in love with a beautiful beta and have smart beta kids. Even if he became a deputy, he would never become a Sheriff like his dead. He wasn’t an alpha. But he was good enough to enter into the system.

He would have an ordinary life. It was the path decided for him, the path every other beta in Beacon Hills had always taken before him, and always would, generations and generations stretching in the horizon doing the same thing because one didn’t just get into the path of omegas and alphas. It just wasn’t done. Not here, in this forgotten town, at least.

The thing is, though, the thing that changed everything, is that Stiles never counted a single Derek Hale appearing in his line of vision because that is all it took.

The first time Stiles put his eyes on Derek, across the crowded cafeteria, he was done for, all his previous plans scattered across the floor. One glance was enough for Derek to get the spotlight in Stiles’ average heart.

*

Derek Hale is everything an omega should be.

He is out-of-this-world pretty and smells great, but he is also shy, quiet, kind, good with the younger kids, and moves with a natural elegance that makes Stiles’ mouth go dry. He is also smart, dedicated, focused, well-behaved, always on time with his clean, perfect styled clothes and silk hair. Even if he is sort of grumpy at times, he never gets into trouble like Stiles does. He also never makes fun of Stiles personality, gently accepting him, encouraging him to speak his mind with small nods and barely there smiles.

Just like he is doing now, as Stiles tries to find a good station on the radio of the Jeep, but all he finds is crap music and not at all the romantic, soothing music he is looking for.

Derek laughs a little and covers Stiles’ hand with his. “You should just give up”.

Stiles does as he is told and turns off the radio, running a hand through his hair. His heart is beating fast, and he is beyond nervous here. They are parked on the outskirts of the town, on a high point where they can see most of Beacon Hills at night. This is their third date, but they hadn’t kissed or done anything beyond hugging a little, and Stiles isn’t sure what the protocol in any dating situation is anyway.

He glances at Derek, who is smiling and playing with the edges of today’s courting gift. Different from the previous times, Stiles decided to give him a blueish, soft sweater, to match his light eyes and is pleased to see that Derek approves of his choice. Derek lifts his head, blushing a bit. “It’s beautiful. Thank you,” he says.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Stiles answers and panics when realizing the words that left his mouth. Derek’s eyes go wide in shock. “I mean –”

Red-faced as a strawberry, Derek hastily takes his own mustard sweater off, showing a patch of skin when his undershirt rides high in his stomach and puts the blue sweater on, adjusting his clothes and smiling proudly at Stiles. “So? What do you think?”

Stiles’ mouth is gaping in an unattractive O shape, and his heart is beating wildly in his throat. Without thinking, he leans forward and tries to catch Derek’s mouth with his own. Instead, he ends up knocking their teeth and noses, eliciting a pained noise from Derek, who moves his hand to rub his sore nose.

Truth be told, Stiles is mortified. Could he be any more awkward? He puts his hands on his face and mumbles. “I am so sorry, Derek, I didn’t even ask what you wanted, oh my god, I am the worst –”

“Stiles,” Derek interrupts, trying to take Stiles’ hands off his face. When Stiles lets his hands fall on his sides, he is surprised to see the fondness in Derek’s eyes. “There you are,” he says.

“Yeah,” Stiles responds dumbly, face hot and body trembling, nerves taunted in embarrassment.

Derek links their hands and looks at their entwined fingers for a moment. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed when being with me, you know,” he whispers.

But how could Stiles not be embarrassed? He isn’t someone smooth. Hell, he can’t even kiss him right, for god’s sake. And Derek, he is the epitome of smoothness.

“But you are –” Stiles starts, only to let the words die in his throat at the look Derek is giving him. He doesn’t think he has ever seen that coldness in Derek directed at him before.

“I am what?”

“Perfect. You are perfect Derek, Do you even know how much I – I just think you are great,” Stiles answers earnestly. He figures he has humiliated himself so much already, what is another thing to the list?

The look of distress leaves Derek’s eyes as if it has never been there, and he smiles shyly again, moving his face close to Stiles’ and rubbing their cheeks together affectionately, sharing their heat and breaths for a second. “I think you are great too,” he says.

Then, slowly, he brushes their lips together, delicately untying the knot inside Stiles’ heart. And just like that, as Stiles brings his hands to touch Derek’s short hair and Derek inclines his head to kiss Stiles properly, as the wonderful smell that is so _Derek_ engulfs him, the world feels alright again.

*

Dating Derek makes Stiles feel high, lighter than he felt in years. If only the rest of the world would agree with him and his choices, though.

It’s not like Derek and Stiles were keeping a secret, so of course that the whole town knew that they were in a relationship by the end of the first week.

So, Stiles could really appreciate if Jackson and his friends stopped insulting him in the locker rooms, if the students at Beacon Hills High stopped giving him the evil eye and if the professionals at school stopped ignoring him, especially when he was trying to buy food. A guy needs to eat, you know?

Even the deputies at the police station, the ones who watched him grow, tried to advise him to rethink his plans. “And omega, really?” They said. “It’s not that you aren’t enough – because you are! But an omega might be too much, Stiles. Can’t you see?” They said. “I have a pretty cousin/daughter/niece that happens to be a beta, how about a date?”  They winked and said.

At least his father grimaced and took Stiles into his office, blocking out the world and protecting him for a moment. Stiles appreciate that more than he let on.

Stiles doesn’t want just anybody, any beta, alpha or omega; he wants Derek with his silly bunny teeth, bright eyes, and gorgeous laugh. He wants Derek and the way he makes him feel with just a touch, a smile, a shoulder bump. He wants Derek and how Stiles sometimes has to wait for Derek to finish another chapter in a book before they can go out on their dates. Is it too much to just ask for the world to back off a little bit? It’s suffocating.

He doesn’t tell Derek any of it. Not when they go to the movies and Derek remains oblivious to the whispering around them and doesn’t even see the flash announcing a stolen photograph taken by a nobody who must love to gossip. Not when they walked around downtown and people stared at them as if they were in a circus, but Derek just licked his ice cream and spoke about baseball. Not when Derek cuddled next to him in Stiles’ couch, laughing freely about something going on TV.

He doesn’t know what to do. It isn’t as if people are being downright rude or something, it’s just a feeling. Shit, he needs to get a grip. He just doesn’t want to unload all of his concerns on someone who already has so much to worry about, not when this thing they share is so new, so fragile. The honeymoon stage, that’s a thing, huh? Stiles doesn’t want to screw everything up.

Besides, there are good things too. Like when they went on a double date with Scott and Kira, or the first time Derek tried to make pancakes without Stiles help and burned every single one of them, it was so bad they ended up having breakfast somewhere else instead. Stiles secretly loves when he catches glimpsed of Derek’s flaws, it makes him seem more human.

As Derek’s heat approaches, single alphas from all across California and surrounding States keep sending him courting gifts. One would expect that, with the news of their relationship spreading out, the number of packages would get lower, but the number increased instead. There are days when the front door of the Hale house is so full of gifts they can’t open the door properly, which explains why the family started leaving the house through the backdoor. The pile of gifts only got higher, since they stopped bringing the gifts inside.

Derek says the pile is being left to root. At first, he was full of high spirits and happiness, telling Stiles how his family had a system to donate all the gifts to NGOs and poor, homeless people since he had been younger, but they don't have enough hands anymore to donate everything since gifts just keep coming. Stiles can see and smell the uneasy around him now. He still doesn’t bring it up. Until surprising, Derek does.

“It’s like they have zero respect for me, you know? Like, I knew they didn’t care much about me before, only about my heats and all, but I thought after I started dating someone they would give me a break. I can’t even leave my house – no, I can’t even stay at my house anymore.”

Stiles pauses the movie they are watching on his laptop and kisses Derek softly on the forehead. The skin is strangely warm and moodier than usual, but Stiles dismisses it since it’s a hot day and Stiles kind of likes Derek’s grumpy face. They are sitting on his bed side by side, Stiles’ arms wrapped casually around Derek’s shoulders. This is the first time that Derek has really complained about something to Stiles, and it makes Stiles wonder if Derek was really as oblivious as Stiles believed him to be. “Why is that?” He asks, suddenly feeling tense.

Derek plays with the button of his plaid shirt, eyes downcast. “Do you remember how I told you we were having dinner with a few friends of our family last night?” Stiles nods and Derek continues with a steady, soft voice. “It was fine at first, but when we were having desert, an old friend of my mother started talking about – about us.”

Stiles starts playing with Derek’s hair and bites his lips to stop himself from interrupting. Derek often needs time to think about his words, he knows. Derek speaks again, laughing a bitter sound. “Then, all of them started suddenly having an opinion on us, and – it was so bad, Stiles. My mother had to throw them all out.”

That starts Stiles. “Wait, what?”

Derek looks up at him from under his eyelashes and smiles. “My mother is terrifying. But she is on our side. She threw them out without a second thought.”

“Jesus” Stiles runs his hands through his hair. “This is so much worse than Jackson’s insults.”

He snorts, thinking about how dare those people give Derek a hard time in his own home, and is startled from his thoughts when Derek shakes him a bit. It isn’t until he sees the upset look on Derek’s face that he realizes what he just said. Derek shakes him again and asks “What insults? What are you talking about?”

“It’s just – it’s stupid,” he says.

Derek pushes away from him and gives him a hard stare. “What is it? Stiles…”

And those are Derek’s eyebrows pointed low in disappointment and judgment. Shit.

Stiles sighs, and he knows he is fucked. So he tells Derek everything he has bottled up for the last couple of weeks. He lets his heart pour all across Derek, who starts breathing shallowly and trembling slightly.

Stiles reaches out for Derek when he is done talking, but his boyfriend flinches away from him. “Why didn’t you tell me, Stiles? I thought – I thought you trusted me.”

Stiles doesn’t know how their date has gone from warm cuddles and sweet kisses to _this_ , whatever this is. He tells himself the look in Derek’s face doesn’t hurt him. It doesn’t. “I didn’t want to make you upset. I knew you would get sad, just like you are _right now_ , I have to add, and you already have so much to deal with already –”

At this, Derek stands and crosses his arms over his chest, lifting an eyebrow. “Oh, so you thought I couldn’t deal with this. We are supposed to be partners. When were you going to tell me? Were you planning on ever telling me? Or just hide this from me as long as you could get away with it?”

When Stiles just opens and closes his mouth like a gaping fish, Derek starts pacing the room, his voice wavering. “I care about what is going on in your mind, you know? And I am stronger than people think – stronger than you think apparently. I don’t need to be sheltered from the world, Stiles. I am more than my heats and my omega body, and –”

“Wow, wow, I don’t think that way”, Stiles gets up from the bed and approaches Derek, who stopped pacing to look at Stiles. “I know you are more than that, Jesus, Derek, I am sorry,” he says and pulls Derek into a shaky hug. His body is warmer than before, and Stiles starts to worry.

“I am not weak, I can deal with it,” Derek murmurs into Stiles’ neck, and he can feel the wetness gathering into his skin.

“I know you can, I am sorry for not telling you,” Stiles rubs his hands, up and down, from Derek’s neck to his lower back.

“I hate that they are giving you a hard time too, I hate it, Stiles,” Derek hugs him tighter, and, to Stiles dismay, starts sobbing quietly. “You aren’t going to leave me because of it, are you?”

Stiles is in shock, because hell no, he isn’t going to leave Derek, where does he get those ideas, and because Derek usually doesn’t behave in such a needy way, which is super strange. Derek is strong, Stiles wasn’t lying to him about that, his strength of character is one of the things that made Stiles like him in the first place.

Stiles brings his hand to his forehead and realizes that Derek is burning up now. “Please don’t leave” Derek sobs, looking wrecked, clinging to Stiles, and weirdly enough, Stiles can smell arousal in the air. And shit, he can feel something poking his thigh. If this is what he thinks it is, this has to be the worst timing in the history of ever. Fuck his life.

“I thought your heat wasn’t coming for another week,” Stiles whispers mostly to himself. Then he holds Derek’s face between his palms, but the hazel eyes are glazed and blinking slowly. “Derek, Derek, listen to me. We have to go, ok?”

“No,” Derek whispers, trying to catch Stiles’ mouth with his and failing. “Let’s stay here.” His voice is like silk to Stiles’ ears, and the smell is making him dizzy. He may not have an alpha’s nose, but he can still smell the sweetness of affection and lust in the air. It’s intoxicating.

But he knows enough about consent, being the sheriff’s son al all, and Derek told him in bold neon letters about how _not_ ready he was when it came to sharing his heats. They had talked about it and dammit, Stiles said he would wait, and he plans on keeping his word, even if, right now, Derek is making wonderful noises and dry humping his leg. Jesus.

“Come on, come on, let’s get you out of here,” Stiles sing songs as he tries to bring Derek to the car. It’s not an easy task, what with Derek barely being able to walk with every passing moment, but he manages. Derek’s heat is coming faster than Stiles would expect, and it scares the hell out of him.

“Alright, we will be in your home soon, and you will have a nice week all to himself, how about that? How long is your heat, anyway?” Stiles babbles because he has to keep his mind out of the fact that Derek is shifting, moving in the car seat trying to touch parts of his body that Stiles shouldn’t be able to see yet, _holy shit_.

Then another smell engulfs Stiles and he almost chokes on it. It’s like Derek’s arousal amplified a hundred percent, and he glances to the side only to see Derek looking miserable and sobbing quietly. And his heart aches painfully because Stiles knows what it is, and Derek shouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed with him. Derek’s omega body is leaking, soaking the seat of the car. On a red light, Stiles reaches out a hand and cups his cheek. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It is okay Derek, I swear. I will clean it all later.”

“I am sorry,” Derek mumbles into his hand, eyes closed.

“It’s okay,” he repeats in a soothing voice, carding his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair.

Derek is wet, so ready, all slick and warm and tight and just… The worst part is that Stiles knows that it’s not enough. That it’s just his body’s biology. Derek’s mind is still playing a different melody, working in a different set of tunes, still innocent and not ready for something more than a make out session, like, at all.

Even so, it warms him a little to see that Derek has found a plaid button up in the backseat of the car, and is inhaling it now, breathing in Stiles’ smell. It seems to calm him a bit, but only for a short moment.

Stiles wishes he could make it better for Derek because his boyfriend is writhing and moaning, but he can’t. There is nothing he can do beyond taking him home and hope for the best.

By the time they reach the Hale house, Derek has turned into an incoherent mess, and Stiles is grateful when Derek’s mother is there, taking her son from his arms and guiding him into the house, to be taken by his siblings and uncle, taken safely to his heat room. Letting Derek go in that moment is the hardest thing Stiles has ever done in his life.

And he is relieved to see that it’s not only him who feels that way, as Derek starts trashing and screaming to get back to Stiles’ arms.

Or so he thought – until Derek starts calling desperately for his alpha.

*

Stiles lets himself back at his house and is surprised to see his father there, waiting for him in the living room. The sheriff motions his head for Stiles to join him on the couch and Stiles obeys, sprawling his limbs all over the place and closing his eyes. “What’s up?”

“Not much, just that Talia Hale called me to thank me for raising such a good kid.”

This startles Stiles, and he blinks slowly to his father. “What?”

“You did the right thing son. I know that taking Derek back to his place, in safety, while he was in heat wasn’t an easy thing to do. And I am proud of you for that,” his father says, putting his hands on Stiles’ shoulder, and Stiles can feel his eyes prickle with unshed tears. Fuck, he misses Derek already, and his father’s words only remind him of the sight of his boyfriend screaming for something else, something that Stiles will never be able to give him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” The sheriff asks with a knowing look.

Stiles starts to shake his head, only to realize that yes, he wants to talk about it, thank you very much. He is sick and tired of shoving everything down his throat. “It’s just – I wish we could just be together, you know, without people trying to make us feel bad for choosing each other. Like, _you were there_ , you totally saw how the deputies tried to change my mind about Derek. Even Parish joined the Derek-deserves-more-than-you-Stiles-squad, it was awful.”

His father grimaces and nods, so Stiles continues. “And Derek was –”

At this, Stiles struggles, feeling selfish and hypocritical even as he begins saying the words “he was asking for his alpha today. And I know he can’t help it, but it still hurts, you know.”

His father only nods and speaks everything Stiles didn’t want to hear, not right now. “Yes, I understand, but you knew who he was, Stiles. You, better than anyone, knew what you were getting yourself into. And you are enough.”

Stiles breathes deeply, and exhales, trying to keep his calm. “I know,” he says. “I know.”

They are quiet for a moment, his father making soothing motions with his thumb on Stiles’ shoulder while he tries to breathe. “Is he worth, Stiles?”

Stiles jolts in shock and shakes his father’s hands from his body in the process. “Hell yeah,” he nods, flinging his hands in the air to encompass just how worth Derek really is. He is worth the moon, okay? The fucking galaxy, the entire universe, Derek is worth everything.

“Then why are you here moping, doubting his feelings for you?” The sheriff asks and, for once in his life, Stiles doesn’t have an answer for him. “He chose you, didn’t he? It shouldn’t matter what he says when he can’t control what is coming out of his mind, Stiles. And it shouldn’t matter what everyone else says either.”

Stiles looks at his father, really looks for the first time in a long time, taking in his wrinkles, his broad shoulders and the way he is leaning forward, hands locked together and elbows on his knees. I that moment, he is hit with how much he loves his father, and how much it means to him that he came down all the way from the Police Station, just to make sure Stiles was alright. “Thanks, dad”, he says, letting himself be wrapped by his father in an overwhelming bear hug.

*

His father was right, of course, he was, he is freaking awesome, that is what he is.

And Stiles, fuck, Stiles is done with being kicked around like a pup, lost in his own comfort zone. He let things get out of his control, let Derek get so worked up, dealing with things alone, that his heat came earlier than expected. Stiles blames himself because he should have been able to realize what was happening sooner, able to take care of Derek, of calming his mind. He should have been able to talk to him and listen to him in return.

This is why he and Scott find themselves early the next morning at the Hale house, shoving Derek’s giant pile of unwanted courting gifts in the Jeep – after cleaning it thoroughly, of course – and taking them to the closest donation center. Derek had complained about how tired he was of those damn gifts, and Stiles would do something for him. He would take care of it, for Derek’s sake.

Laura and Cora are helping too, and soon they start a rotation system. It feels incredible the first time they see the front door uncovered again, Derek’s mother laughing softly about how she couldn’t even remember her door anymore, about how they would be able to use the porch again.

They don’t know how, but the news of Derek’s unexpected heat and their activities reach the school and the other alphas in the nearby towns. It’s an unusual and disrespectful thing to do, to give away courting gifts without even opening them or giving the alpha an answer about it, but everyone finding out about how the stress and the pressure placed upon their new relationship made Derek sick created the environment for things to start to change.

Something that Stiles had never even dare to hope for.

If before people wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the pile of gifts in front of Derek’s house, now their neighbors and classmates start to frown and reprehend alphas who keep laying packages on the porch regardless of Derek’s wellbeing. For example, Stiles is shell-shocked the next time he sees Jackson and his arch enemy verbally humiliates another alpha who is speaking poorly of Derek and his family. Jackson even nods at Stiles, like, what the hell?

Stiles is also speechless when, on the fourth day of Derek’s heat, a young alpha shows up just as Stiles is collecting the smaller pile of gifts from the Hale’s porch. The alpha doesn’t have time to do anything beyond insulting Stiles, because of Derek’s uncle, Peter, who shows up and shoves his ass quickly out of there, shouting for the guy to stop messing with his dear brother in law.

Mr. Deaton even takes a whole class to debate omega’s rights, and it’s such a success that he repeats it, this time in an auditorium. It wasn’t completely crowded, but Stiles was happy to see so many people interested in the issue.  

Stiles is starting to understand that, in addition to the fact that Derek is an omega, he also is an excellent student, loved by the community as a whole. He is kind to everyone, he volunteers every summer in the library, he helps to distribute food to the homeless people close to Christmas. Even if he is socially awkward and too quiet sometimes, people still like him. They just didn’t use to like _Derek and Stiles_ , but that is a different thing.

Now, though… Now Stiles has hope that things will get better – if the way people stopped whispering bad things about him and started smiling at him again is anything to go by.

*

After a week, Stiles is exhausted, yawing wildly and blinking his eyes to make the sleep go away, but he still swings by Derek’s house after school to collect any presents that alphas might have delivered during the day. The donation center is closed right now, but he can take the packages there first thing in the morning.

Just when he steps onto the porch and notices that there’s nothing there, the door opens and Derek comes outside, soft around the edges, with his hair wet like he just stepped out of the shower and wearing plaid pajamas. He smiles at Stiles. “Cora took the rest of the gifts this afternoon,” he says, closing the door behind him.

Stiles feels nervous all of a sudden, and bites his lips. It’s been a week without Derek and suddenly he doesn’t know what to do, so he settles for asking “Are you feeling okay? I mean, I am sure this week sucked, but I hope it wasn’t too bad?” For some reason, it sounds like a question and Stiles wishes the floor would swallow him whole.

Instead of answering, Derek walks up to Stiles and throws himself at him, hugging him tightly, putting his face in Stiles’ neck. “I missed you.”

Having an armful of Derek is the best feeling in the world. Up close, Stiles realizes that Derek still smell a bit like his heat, and he noses around his hairline. “I missed you too.”

Derek pushes away a little, just to look at Stiles, and Stiles feels a pang in his heart to see that Derek’s beautiful eyes are red-rimmed. His boyfriend looks tired. “No, I mean –” he says and then puts his face in Stiles’ neck again.

Stiles brings a hand to Derek’s hair and pets the soft strands, a way of telling him to go on at his own leisure, without pushing him. Fuck, Stiles missed Derek’s catlike ways, how he moves and behaves almost in a feline way sometimes.

When Stiles realizes that nothing is coming out of Derek’s mouth anymore, he takes Derek by the hands and sits on the porch seat Derek’s father had installed this week. As they seat, Derek keeps hiding in Stiles’ neck, protected by the beta’s arms. He seems to need the assurance and the comfort that Stiles is all too happy to provide.

“Derek,” Stiles starts, “I am sorry for this past week. Sorry for not telling you what was bothering me, and for not listening to you properly. I want you to talk to me too in the future, okay? You were right, we are a team. Like The Avengers, but better.”

Derek shakes his head, his voice miserable and hesitant. “I thought I was so strong, but I am not. I couldn’t even argue with you without going all omega, needy and troublesome.”

At this, Stiles tries to catch his gaze but fails, and ends up hugging him tighter instead. “Nope, Derek, no. Don’t do that. You are the strongest person I know. Yes, you went into heat, but that is because we let things get out of control. We need to talk in the future so it doesn’t happen again, that’s all. You are an omega, but that doesn’t make you weak.” Derek still smells upset, so Stiles says “Look at the Black Widow in The Avengers. Natasha is an omega but she is fucking badass, right? Just like you. So, don’t ever think that, okay?”

Derek’s smell goes sweeter, happier, and he nods, brushing his lips on Stiles’ skin and creating goosebumps on the flesh. “Thank you.”

Stiles smiles and kisses his forehead. “You are welcome, Der.”

After a moment, Derek continues, voice quiet and small. “What I was saying before – I missed you while I was in heat. I kept asking for you but you weren’t there.”

And Stiles can’t help but say “you were asking for an alpha,” and regrets his words immediately.

Thankfully, Derek only shakes his head. “I don’t remember it. But even if I was asking for an alpha, I was thinking about you. I missed you, Stiles.”

And those words are everything Stiles didn’t know he was waiting for, and it’s like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. So he hugs Derek with everything he can, and brings their lips together for a slow kiss, tasting Derek’s warm, wet mouth again after such a long time.

Derek is willing and pliant, moving along with Stiles’ wish. He makes these soft, high noises that are driving Stiles crazy, but he keeps the motions easy, sweet and innocent, just like he learned that Derek likes.

His heart stops beating though when Derek breaks the kiss and turns his head to the side, giving Stiles the gorgeous view of Derek’s pale, bare throat. “Derek –” he whines, a question, a plea, as he brushes his lips along the flawless skin.

Derek’s only answer is to bring a hand to Stiles’ hair and push a little, and that is all the answer Stiles needs to start sucking and licking his boyfriend’s throat. He became quite good at understanding Derek’s body language over the last few weeks. Derek knows that Stiles will respect him no matter what, that Stiles would never mate with him against his will and that Stiles doesn’t want to _own_ Derek, doesn’t think he is something to be kept.

And Stiles understands, without a shred of doubt, what Derek is offering here – his naked thrust. So he just kisses Derek’s skin with reverence, affection, and adoration.

No matter what comes, what difficulties they might face, Stiles won’t give this up because Derek is the best thing in his life. With Derek in his arms, his warm body stretched along his, the long line of his throat tasting divine across his lips and his soft black hair tickling his face, Stiles doesn’t feel ordinary. He doesn’t feel it at all.

He feels loved.


End file.
